Mileage savings from optimization of coordinated trucking

Data on mileage driven and loads delivered were collected from a log trucking firm hauling for 5 loggers to 9 consuming mills. Routes were assigned by a supervisory person and were not optimized. On average over the week of testing, the schedule achieved a loaded mileage proportion of 57%. A route optimization system was also used to assign delivery schedules and it achieved a loaded mileage proportion of 66%, significantly higher than the human-assigned dispatch (P <0.02), and potentially saving the firm by up to 15,000 miles per year. Feasibility of the generated optimal schedules was a concern, but could not be directly evaluated. Instead, specific characteristics of routes that might be considered optimal and feasible were selected, and the generated solutions evaluated for whether or not they had those traits. Optimal solutions tended to a) deliver loads from multiple loggers on single days, and b) replicate a few, shorter routes between trucks, both of which were considered traits of feasible schedules. It was concluded that the optimization system was of potential benefit in reducing transport costs of coordinated trucking systems.